Indonesian fans set off fireworks in domestic tournament

(Dan Tri) - The incident happened at the Indonesian Liga 1 national championship last night (May 17), when fans of PSS Sleman Club lit red flares and threw them onto the field, injuring an assistant referee.

Fireworks fill the stands in Indonesia

The incident occurred during the match between PSS Sleman and Persija Jakarta, in the penultimate round of Liga 1. When the score was 1-1 in the 71st minute, the home team PSS Sleman's overexcited fans threw flares onto the field, injuring the hand of an assistant referee.

The match was halted after the incident, but both sides were allowed to continue. In the 77th minute, PSS Sleman fans simultaneously lit up flares, lighting up the stands at Maguwoharjo Stadium.

The flares and smoke severely limited the visibility of the players and the forces on duty. This time, the match had to be stopped for about 15 minutes.

After the match resumed, home team PSS Sleman scored the winning goal 2-1 in the 12th minute of injury time of the second half.

Red flares lit up the stands at Maguwoharjo Stadium during last night's match (Photo: Detik).

Despite the victory, PSS Sleman is still only ranked 16th out of 18 teams in Liga 1. The team is still one point away from the safety of relegation, while the tournament has only one round left to end. The risk of relegation is looming over PSS Sleman.

The incident of PSS Sleman fans lighting flares and causing chaos in the stands was assessed by the media in the archipelago country as coming from the fans of this club being frustrated with the current situation of their team.

Indonesian football is often plagued by incidents because the country’s football fans are very aggressive. Just in the previous round, Arema FC’s extreme fans attacked the Persik team bus, injuring the coach of the team. At the same time, the Persik team bus was damaged.

After the incident, the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) banned Arema FC from welcoming spectators into the stadium in the next match.

A few years ago, on the Indonesian football field, there was an incident where fans rioted, invaded the field, causing a stampede, killing many people. World football once called it a disaster of the football world.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/co-dong-vien-indonesia-dot-phao-sang-tung-bung-o-giai-trong-nuoc-20250518120019318.htm